I signed on with Caribbean Conservation Trust for a 10-day bird survey in Cuba, followed by a day in historic Havana.  My son-in-law Adam and I joined 7 other survey participants on the Southwest flight from Fort Lauderdale to Havana on January 9^th.  Our itinerary covered central and western Cuba where we found most of the possible endemic species.  Our objective was to enhance the scientific information relating to the numbers and distribution of birds in Cuba in order to facilitate their survival in an increasingly problematic environment.

My personal and specific objective was to see one of the two species of the Endemic Cuban Warbler Family: either a Yellow-headed Warbler or an Oriente Warbler.  We succeeded in finding both. 

As a secondary objective, I also hoped to see the smallest bird in the world.  That was achieved when we were able to observe this Bee Hummingbird at the feeders at a private home.

Well, now that I started with the punch lines, I will write in a little more detail about Cuba and the tour. 

Cuba is our closest neighbor in the Caribbean.  It lies within 100 miles of Florida.  The flight from Fort Lauderdale to Havana is less than an hour.  American and Southwest airlines, and probably others, fly between Fort Lauderdale and Havana on a regular basis.  Notwithstanding the Trump administration “restrictions” it is still legal (and not especially difficult) for United States citizens to visit Cuba.  But because of the (intended) fear and uncertainty created by the “new” restrictions and sanctions, visitors from the U.S. are currently many fewer than they have been in recent years, causing considerable privation among the Cuban entrepreneurs and workers who have developed and depended on tourism for their livelihoods.  U.S. fear and sanctions are hurting Cubans.  And now, the Corona Virus.

Cuba is a little over 700 miles long and about 120 miles wide at its widest point.  It is the largest island in the Caribbean.   It has about 11,000,000 inhabitants.  The second largest Caribbean island is Hispaniola, which is divided between Haiti and Dominican Republic, each with about 11,000,000 inhabitants.  These 3 countries account for 75% of the population of the Caribbean.  There are many other islands in the Cariibbean, some independent and some owned by other countries.  The ones with over 1,000,000 inhabitants are Jamaica with 3,000,000, Puerto Rico (a U.S. possession) 3,000,000, and Trinidad and Tobago, 1,500,000.  Some of the independent countries are surprisingly small and sparsely populated. All in all, there are over 700 islands, and 11 independent countries.   

While there, a Cuban summarized the accomplishments of the Cuban Socialist Revolution since 1959 as follows:  excellent education system, excellent medical system, excellent sports events and participation; but not much to eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Food is rationed.  Here is a “store” where people go to get their basic foods on a weekly basis.

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For car afficionados, it is a mecca for observing vintage autos, often brightly painted, which are on display everywhere, and used as every-day operating vehicles. 

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We spent a lot of time driving through the countryside.  The land is beautiful, with low lying mountains, valleys and green pastures dotted with trees.  There is much pastureland.  There are cattle, horses, pigs, chickens and goats.  There are fields of sugar cane, tobacco, bananas, tomatoes, and other fruits and vegetables.

The history of Cuba is fascinating.  One of the most interesting books I read before my trip is Havana Nocturne, which well and entertainingly describes the situation in Cuba as it existed and changed in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, up to the ouster of the Batista government by the Castro led Socialist Revolution on January 1, 1959.  I recommend it as necessary background for understanding present-day Cuba and the relationship between Cuba and the United States. 

We were surprised that we did not need malaria pills for this trip.  Malaria has long been extinguished on this island.  We felt very safe wherever we went, in the country-side or in the cities. 

We arrived in Havana on the 9^th and drove directly to Vinales, to the west.  We arrived too late to do any birding, and stayed there for nights 1 and 2 with night 2 following our Day 1 of actual birding.  This area produced for me Yellow-headed Warblers, fulfilling my primary objective of the trip, as one of the 2 species in the endemic Cuban Warbler family. We also had a brief in-flight view of Gundlach’s Hawk.

Also seen in the area (or on the drive to the Zapata area) were the endemic Cuban Blackbird and the following West Indian Endemics residing in Cuba, or Cuban subspecies:  Great Lizard Cuckoo, Antillean Palm Swift, Cuban Emerald, West Indian Woodpecker, Stygian Owl, American Kestrels, Cuban Peewee, Loggerhead Kingbirds, Red-legged Thrush, Cuban Bullfinches, Western Spindalis, Tawny-shouldered Blackbirds, Eastern Meadowlark (hypocreppis), and Greater Antillean Grackles. 

Here is the Stygian Owl, one of a pair seen.

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From Vinales we went east to the south coast town of Playa Larga for nights 3 and 4.  I was unable to participate in Day 3 of Birding because I became ill during the preceding night, suspicious of food poisoning, and missed the day.  Adam was able to get a picture of Blue-Headed Quail Doves.

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The rest of the group also saw several Endemic Species most of which I was able to see before or after that day, except for the Blue-headed Quail Dove and the Gray-fronted Quail Dove (which our guide Nils does not believe is deserving of species status separate from the Hispaniolan Gray-headed Quail Dove, which I have seen there). 

A boat tour of the Zapata Swamp on Birding Day 4 was a highlight the trip, with Zapata Wrens and Zapata Sparrows showing well; but, like everyone else, we did not see the Zapata Rail.

 I also saw the following Endemics on Day 4:  Bare-legged Owl, Greater Antillean (Cuban) Nightjar, Bee Hummingbird, Cuban Green Woodpecker, Cuban Parakeet, and Cuban Oriole.

Day 5 was spent on the road north across to the northern coast, to Cayo Coco (“Key” Coco).  The ride was long.  It terminated with a drive across a 35-mile causeway built on the shallow seabed between the coast of Cuba and the northern keys.  There we lived in luxury for 2 nights at a plush tourist hotel with lots of international guests.  A big pool, all-inclusive meals and drinks, a room above the water, evening live music, and other amenities enhanced the birding experience. 

The most notable new Endemics added to my personal count during our stay at Cayo Coco or on the drive back to Havana via Sancta Spiritus (where we spent the night), Trinidad and Cienfuegos were:  Cuban Black Hawk, Cuban Tody, Cuban Gnatcatcher, and Oriente Warbler, the second species of the new Cuban Warbler family.

In Havana we stayed at a unique, small hotel (about 10 rooms) converted by German investors from an Oldtown residence to a hotel.  It was ideal as a base for our day-tour of Havana.  Among the highlights of the day tour were these.

Several of our group in front of the Fidel Castro mural on an administrative building in Revolution Square

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Also at Revolution Square is the Jose Marti Memorial, at 358 feet in height, the largest memorial in the world in honor of a writer.  Long planned, and much delayed, it was finished in 1958 in the final days of the Batista regime. Governments of Cuba whether pre-revolution or post-revolution, deem it important to honor Marti.  From Encyclopedia Britannica:

“Jose Marti, born January 28, 1853, Havana, Cuba—died May 19, 1895, Dos Rios.  Poet and essayist, patriot and martyr, who became a symbol of Cuba’s struggle for independence from Spain.  His dedication to the goal of Cuban freedom made his name a synonym for liberty throughout Latin America.  As a patriot, Marti organized and unified the movement for Cuban independence and died on the battlefield fighting for it.  As a writer he was distinguished for his personal prose and deceptively simple, sincere verse on themes of a free and united America.”

Jose Marti Memorial, Adam in foreground

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The fight for independence from Spain began in the 1870s and ended in 1898 when the United States, after the sinking of the Maine in Havana Harbor, went to war with Spain and drove it from Cuba.

The 29 new species I saw in Cuba brings to 3,825 my total species seen.  Adding the Cuban Warblers to my family list brings it to 223 out of 248. That leaves only the Sapayoa as my single Western Hemisphere unseen family. When the Corona Virus is conquered, I may still see the Sapayoa in Ecuador or Panama.

THE LEMURS

The trip to Madagascar offered an opportunity to see lemurs, found nowhere else in the world.  There are 3 orders of mammals found only on Madagascar: lemurs, tenrecs and Malagasy carnivores.  We saw a Tenrec, as earlier reported, but none of the Malagasy carnivores.  As for Lemurs, the Island lived up to its reputation.  From the Behrens and Barnes invaluable guide, “Wildlife of Madagascar”:

“Lemurs: A massive radiation of primates that is endemic to the island.  There are five living families, plus a further three that have become extinct.” “Lemurs are Madagascar’s most celebrated biological treasure. Fifteen percent of the world’s primate species and subspecies, 20% of its primate genera and one-third of its primate families, are endemic to the island.  Lemurs form one of the most prominent voices in the Malagasy forest.  Most species are vocal and produce many different calls.”   

The five different families of lemurs are Mouse, Sportive, True, Indri and Aye-aye.

Mouse Lemurs (Cheirogaleidae Family).  18 species, 9 to 12 inches long.  Behrens and Barnes: “These tiny nocturnal lemurs include the smallest living primate in the world: Madame Berthe’s Mouse Lemur. . . . They closely resemble the galagos, or “bushbabies” of Africa.  Modern taxonomy has seen the number of recognized species increase dramatically from two to 18, and more species may yet be described. Although mouse lemurs are occasionally found sleeping during the day (resembling tiny fur balls), most sightings are during the night, usually in the form of a pair of eyes bounding about the forest at remarkable speed. There is some variation in size and colour (from gray to rufous), but all mouse lemurs look very similar, especially with a typical night walk view.  According to current information, most can be identified simply by where you are, so refer to the locality and species table on this page.”

 Grey-brown Mouse Lemur

“Dwarf Lemurs (also in the Cheirogaleidae, or Mouse, family).  7 species, 16 to 22 inches long.  Behrens and Barnes: “Dwarf lemurs are small nocturnal lemurs in the same family as mouse lemurs.  They are remarkable as the only primates known to go into a hibernation-like torpor during the dry season (approximately May to December), during which they live off the reserves of fat stored in their tails. . . . There seems to be little overlap in range of most species so tentative identifications can be based on the location of a sighting.  Refer to the locality and species table on this page.”

Based on my prior understanding that finding any mouse lemurs (including dwarf lemurs) would be difficult, I was hoping we would see at least one species from this big family of small, nocturnal lemurs.  We found 3:  Grey-brown Mouse Lemurs at Ifaty, and Goodman’s Mouse Lemurs and Crossley’s Dwarf Lemur at Andasibe.

2.  Sportive Lemurs (Lepilemuridae).  26 species, 17 to 25 inches long.  From Behrens and Barnes: “Sportive lemurs are classified as an entirely separate family.  They are rather chunky, with big eyes and ears, and have a vertical posture.  These nocturnal lemurs are often seen during the day, roosting in tree cavities or dense tangles.  At night, they move about with impressive leaps while retaining their vertical posture.  This is another group, like the mouse lemurs, where the number of recognized species (currently 26) has increased dramatically in recent years, and new species may yet be described.  These species look very similar, especially at night, but show some variation in size, color, prominence of the ears, and other traits.  However, it is unusual for two species to coexist, and so most can be identified by location  (see table below).”

As with the Mouse Lemurs, I thought we would need luck to see any Sportive Lemurs.  But, we saw 2 species:  Petter’s Sportive Lemur (White Footed?) at Ifaty, and Zombitse Sportive Lemur at Zombitse

3. “True Lemurs” (Lemuridae).  This family includes several larger lemurs, generally thought of as separate groups, (a “genus”) including Bamboo Lemurs, Ring-tailed Lemurs, Brown Lemurs and Ruffed Lemurs. Most True Lemurs are active in daylight, unlike the Mouse or Sportive Lemurs.  Except for the Ring-tailed Lemurs which we saw at Isalo, all of our sightings of this family were in the Andasibe area.

A.  Bamboo Lemurs.  Bamboo lemurs are active during the day.  They can be up to almost 3 feet long, tip of tail to tip of nose.  We found Eastern Grey Bamboo Lemurs at Andasibe.B

Another species of Bamboo Lemur, the Golden Bamboo Lemur, is critically endangered.  It exists only in Ranomafana National Park, which itself exists in large part because of the discovery of this species there in 1985.  We chose not to visit Ranomafana due to its remoteness, difficult topography and our time constraints for the trip.  

B. Ring-tailed Lemurs.  We included Isalo in our itinerary primarily because Ring-tailed Lemurs can often be seen there.  The 3 to 3.5 foot long Ring-tail is probably the most distinctive and well-known lemur in Madagascar, although the Indri, discussed later, certainly gives it a run for the money.  We were fortunate to find a very active group near the campground at Isalo.  Their expressive faces, athleticism and long tails make for a good show.     

C.  Brown Lemurs. From Behrens and Barnes: “Brown lemurs are a large genus (Eulemur) within the ‘true lemur’ family, and include some of the lemur species most frequently seen by visitors.  There are 12 species . . . . Brown lemurs are medium-sized [3 feet long], vocal, and generally found in groups.  They are generally diurnal.”  We saw them at Andasibe.I

D.  Ruffed Lemurs.  We saw just one Black and White Ruffed Lemur at Mantadia National Park, north of Andasibe, toward the end of our trip.  It is generally found high in the trees, and that was the case for us.  It appeared to be eating the flowers.  

4.  The Indriidae Family.  Like the True Lemurs, this family is normally active in daylight hours.  The Family includes Wooly lemurs, Sifakas (both Verreaux’s and Diademed), and the wonderful (and, if from a distance, haunting) voice of the forest, the Indris. All of them are large, colorful, athletic and charismatic. They gave us many hours of pleasure, and a few shocks as one or more Indri would suddenly emit from overhead an incredibly loud and surprising scream.  

Our first encounter with any of Indri family was with the Verreaux’s Sifakas in the southwest.I

At Andasibe, we were treated to several sightings of Wooly Lemurs,

And Diademed Sifakas,

The stars of the Lemur Show at Andasibe were undoubtedly the Indri. They were vocal and loud, beautiful and impressive with their leaps through the trees.  They could be heard every morning from our hotel.  The locals call them the Voice of the Forest.  Truly, never to be forgotten voices, deafening at close range, haunting from a distance.  

5.  The Aye-aye.  As for the 5^th Lemur family, the monotypic Aye-aye, we did not expect to see any because it is rare and restricted to areas we did not visit.  Nevertheless, to complete the Lemur discussion, we quote a summary from Behrens and Barnes: “This remarkable creature is one of the world’s most bizarre animals.  Its strangest features are its perpetually growing incisor teeth and its thin, elongated middle fingers, which are used to extract larvae from dead wood.  Although it was sometimes considered to be a rodent in the past, recent genetic studies have placed it firmly in the lemurs.  It forms its own family (one of Madagascar’s five lemur families).”

We were able to identify 13 species of Lemur, at least one species within each of the 4 Lemur Families that were possible to find in the areas we explored.  The most surprising sightings were of the 3 normally nocturnal Mouse Lemur species and the 2 Sportive Lemur species, better than the previously hoped for 1 of each family. 

THE CHAMELEONS

This Oustalet’s Chameleon showed up outside our hotel on our first morning in Tana.

The Andasibe area added several Chameleons to our collection.

Short-horned Chameleon

Big Nose Chameleon

And the near threatened Parson’s (Giant) Chameleon.

THE GECKOS, SKINKS, LIZARDS, TORTOISES AND FROGS

We saw 7 species of Gecko.  One of the prettiest is this Lined Day Gecko

Gold-spotted Skink

Three-eyed Lizard

Spider Tortoise

Frogs were small but colorful.  Here are several:

Marbled Rain Frog

Baron’s Mantella (Painted Frog)

THE BUTTERFLIES AND OTHER INSECTS, AND SPIDERS

Notable at Andasibe were the large numbers of various species of Butterflies.

Green Ladies in with hundreds of white butterflies

Cream-lined Swallowtail

And these denizens of the insect (or spider) worlds:

Kung Fu Cricket (seen at Ifaty)

Grant’s Millipede

And the weirdest of all, this Giraffe-necked Weevil

We flew from Tulear to Tana on November 26.  There our party was divided for the remainder of the trip because of the need for smaller, four-wheel drive vehicles in the Andasibe/Mantadia area.  It took nearly 2 hours to get out of Tana because of the heavy traffic. The road was narrow and full of pot-holes.   It was slow-going most of the time and perilously fast the rest of the time, with heavy truck traffic both ways all the time.  We arrived at the Andasibe Hotel long after dark; we would spend the next 4 nights there. 

Within the Andasibe area are Andasibe National Park, Mantadia National Park and smaller preserves.  We spent most of our time near Andasibe, but on the 3^rd day we drove the road to Mantadia.  We certainly needed the 4-wheel drives for that trip, which was not far, but very rough and wet. 

Over the course of several days we enjoyed 3 sightings of the odd Madagascar (Crested) Ibis:

And, finally, a stunning closeup view of a Cuckoo-roller, one of the regional endemics of Madagascar previously seen in good numbers, but not as close as this one.

Madagascar Pygmy Kingfishers were found at several locations.

Our Vanga sightings improved with first sightings of Nuthatch Vangas, more Chapert’s Vangas  and a better look at a Blue Vanga.

This White-headed Vanga stayed high in the trees.

A White-throated Oxylabes (of the Malagasy Warbler family) on the nest held still for our photographers. 

Nelicourvi Weavers showed up every day.

Purple Rollers were foraging above a small pond.

One late afternoon we were able to see a Collared Nightjar.

I used to focus on species in my birding outings, of which there are over 10,000 world-wide.  In the past several years, however, I have been trying to see as many of the bird families as possible.  Currently there are 248 families, up from about 200 a few years ago.  Genetic analysis has resulted in this remarkable increase.   I started thinking about going to Madagascar a year or so ago because it would be possible to add 7 new bird families to my then life-time total of 216: Mesites (endemic to Madagascar), Flufftails (widespread in Africa), Crab Plovers (widespread in the Africa-Asia coastal areas), Cuckoo Rollers (endemic in the Madagascar region), Ground Rollers (endemic to Madgascar), Asities (endemic to Madagascar) and Malagasy Warblers (endemic to Madagascar).  I was able to see 6 of the 7, but although our guide had fleeting glimpses of a couple of Asities, I did not.  And so I was able to add 6 families to my count to bring to 222 the number of families of birds that I have seen.  As for species, I added 83 new species to my world list, to bring the total to 3,796.  Couas are members of the world-wide Cuckoo family, and Vangas have some newly assigned family members in other parts of the world, but both the Couas and the Vangas on Madagascar are particularly colorful and interesting.   

My final Madagascar installment (Part 5) will feature Lemurs, Chameleons and other creatures unique to Madagascar.

On November 23 we took the long drive from Tulear to Zombitze and Isalo.

These destinations were included in our itinerary primarily for the opportunity to see Ring-tailed Lemurs at Isalo.  We were not disappointed.

We stopped for a roadside brunch along the way.  The stop was productive of plenty of birds winging their way through the open valley and brushland bordering the road.  Included were Madagascar Sandgrouse, Hammerkops, and Grey-headed Lovebirds.  On to Zombitse where Cuckoo-rollers (my 5^th new family of the trip) were numerous and vocal as they flew calling over the forest. [A later close-up view with picture came at Andasibe, for a later installment]. At Zombitze we found Giant Couas

We were lucky at Zombitse to get good close-up views of a pair of rare and range-restricted Appert’s Tetrakas (of the endemic Malagasy Warbler Family).

Zombitse produced a surprising daytime view of our second Sportive Lemur, the Zombitse Sportive Lemur

And our first encounter with a group of Verreaux’s Sifakas.

Both Greater and Lesser Vasas (parrots) were present, as were Archbold’s and Common Newtonias (Vanga Family), and Blue Vangas.  A Hook-billed Vanga had a nest nearby.

 

Another Zombitse find was this Madagascar Paradise-Flycatcher, one of several seen at various stops on the tour.

From Zombitse it was a short drive to our very impressive Hotel Relais de la Reine at Isalo

 

From the Hotel we took an evening walk, which Barbara and I cut short as the rest of the group walked on, so I could rest.  We climbed up some nearby rocks overlooking a grassy bowl.  There we sat on the ridge surrounding the bowl for a long time as the sun set

 

and a pair of Helmeted Guineas furtively lurked through the valley of tall grasses.

The 24^th found us at Isalo National Park where we hoped to find Ring-tailed Lemurs.  And we did, as they gamboled about in the trees by the campground for a long time.

A long walk further into the park produced nothing of interest and we returned to the campground where we were fortunate to see again the acrobatics of the Ring-tailed Lemurs as they prepared to depart from the campground area.   I also saw the Park’s lone surviving Verreaux’s Sifaka as she danced her magical side-step down the path to join the retiring Ring-tailed Lemurs.  Her family was wiped out a few years ago in an out-of-control burn of nearby pasture lands that spread to the forest.

Here we also saw this Madagascar Tree Boa.

None of the snakes on Madagascar are poisonous.  Others seen on the trip were Cat-eyed, Speckled Hognose, Striped Garter and Mahafaly Sand Snakes.

On the 25^th we returned to Tulear, with the drive occupying most of the day.  Along the way we saw panning for jewels in the muddy rivers, (recent discoveries of various precious and other gemstones has led to a “gem rush” in various areas in Madagascar).

We saw clothes being washed in muddy rivers and dried on the banks.

We saw numerous burial sites.

We stopped at a small Mahafaly Village

where we were welcomed and invited into a resident’s typical, modest, one-room, dirt-floored home.

Cooking of the evening meals on outdoor charcoal pits was in process. 

Water is imported from miles away with trucks coming through the villages on a weekly basis.

On returning to Tulear, we visited the  market

and returned to the Hotel Moringa for a restful night before our flight back to Tana, followed by a long, slow, dangerous drive from Tana to Andasibe where we would spend the rest of our tour in and around the Andasibe and  Mandatia National Parks and the Perinet Preserve.

Stay tuned for Part 4, the Birds and Lemurs of the Andisibe area.

 

The spiny forest produced the top bird of the day, (November 20), maybe of the trip, a Subdesert Mesite, one of the species comprising my 3^rd new family recorded in Madagascar.

 

This Running Coua was another highlight of the Spiny Forest.

A shallow water area, the Ifaty wetlands, held numbers of plovers, sandpipers, herons and egrets.  Efforts to find the Endemic Humblot’s Heron were unsuccessful.  Madagascar Bee-eaters were common.

Here we also saw the endemic Madagascar Plover.

Cisticolas, including Jerys were regular during the day.

On November 21 we drove by another wetland on our way to the La Table dry bush area.

Verreaux’s Couas showed well at La Table.

La Table also produced stunning views of a pair of Red-shouldered Vangas, a bird found only in a small area of southwest Madagascar.

[Side note:  Our guide told us that a Red-shouldered Vanga was the last bird seen by Phoebe Snetzinger.  In about 1980 at the age of 50, Phoebe, a resident of the Illinois/St. Louis area, was diagnosed with terminal skin cancer.  She decided then to make use of her remaining days by becoming a serious birder.  Her cancer went into remission several times in the next 20 years, and in the meantime she became the top birder in the (mostly male birders) world, documenting her sightings of over 8,000 of the then recognized 8,500 species.   In 1999, twenty years almost to the day prior to our visit to La Table, Phoebe was killed there when the van in which she was riding overturned soon after finding the Red-shouldered Vanga.]

At La Table we also saw our first of a number of Crested Drongos.

 

We made a late afternoon stop at the Botanical Garden

There we found a pair of cooperative Red (Green)-capped Couas.

 

Also at the Botanical Garden was an apparently nesting Madagascar Nightjar.

 

On the 22^nd we made the boat trip to Nosy Ve, a small island off the southwest coast of Madagascar, in the hope of finding Crab Plovers.  Crab Plovers are not restricted to Madagascar, but in my prior travels I had never seen any. This was to be my best chance of adding this single species family to my life list.    Boarding the boat required first an ox cart ride from shore to boat.

The day was perfect for an excursion into the Mozambique Channel, with light clouds, light winds and moderate temperatures.  We were extremely fortunate to find 17 Crab Plovers (my 4^th new target family in Madagascar) at the end of our trip, on the sand spit called Nosy Ve.  Nosy Ve is not to be confused with Nosy Be at the far more popular destination for beach lovers on the northwest corner of Madagascar.  Here are a couple of the Crab Plovers, sometimes found on Nosy Ve.

 

Nosy Ve also hosts large numbers of Red-tailed Tropic Birds raising their chicks, and here is one of them.

 

The return boat trip took us past spectacular cliffs where we finally spotted a rare Humblot’s Heron, silhouetted on a cliff by the sea.

On then to Anakao for lunch and the regular Littoral Rock Thrush.  Near the café we were lucky to find at close range a pair of cute little Gray-Brown Mouse Lemurs in full daylight.

 

Part 3 of my Madagascar blog will cover November 23, 24 and 25, including the long drives from Tulear to Zombitse and back, the wonderful Ring-tailed Lemur experience at Isalo National Park, and an unexpected visit to a small Mahafaly village along the way back to Tulear.

 

Madagascar

4^th largest island, after Greenland, New Guinea and Borneo

250 miles east of southern Africa, across the Mozambique Channel

Broke away from Gondwana 150,000,000 years ago

First humans arrived 2000 years ago. Closer to Africa, nevertheless the first arrivals        were Indonesian

Population about 25,000,000, 18 tribes, mixes of Indonesian and African

“Tribe” is an accepted term, and inter-tribal violence continues in rural areas

Over 50% cannot read or write

Life expectancy is about 60

Average daily income:  $2.00

Gained independence from France in 1960, after 65 years of French control

Over 50% are ancestor worshipers; 20% Protestant, 20% Catholic, 7% Muslim

Agriculture (cattle, rice, etc.) and fishing dominate; mining coming on

Politics is volatile, but so far elections have been mostly respected.

Governmental corruption is spoken of as a way of life.  We experienced none.

 

Barbara and I and daughter, Nora and son-in-law, Dave, hired Tropical Birding to guide us on a tour of Madagascar between November 17 and December 2, 2019.  Two of the principals of Tropical Birding, Ken Behrens and Keith Barnes authored a book entitled “Wildlife of Madagascar”, published in 2016.  It proved to be a valuable resource.  The book covers many of Madagascar’s mammals, birds, reptiles, frogs, invertebrates and distinctive plants, focusing on those that visitors are most likely to encounter.

The mammals include Lemurs, (we saw 13 species) Carnivores, (none seen) Bats, (1 species seen) Tenrecs, (1 species seen) Rodents (1 species seen) and Marine Mammals (none seen)

The following is quoted from the Behrens and Barnes “Wildlife of Madagascar”:

“A brief introduction to Madagascar.  Madagascar is so different from the rest of the world that it is sometimes called ‘The Eighth Continent’.  Not only does it have the high level of endemism (species not found elsewhere) that is typical of an island, but it also boasts remarkable diversity, which for some groups approaches that more typical of a whole continent.  Madagascar is the land of lemurs, a radiation of our own primate order that evolved into exhilarating diversity on this island.  These endearing creatures are the ambassadors for Malagasy nature; many people who have no idea where this island is located immediately recognize the Ring-tailed Lemur.  Madagascar is also a land of fabulous birds, ancient reptile lineages, and six of the world’s nine species of baobabs.  All naturalists find Madagascar fascinating as a treasure-trove of biodiversity and a ‘laboratory of evolution’, much like the Galapagos but on a grander scale.  And for travelling naturalists, Madagascar is a ‘must-visit’ place.  Although Madagascar has long been known for birds and mammals, its reptiles, amphibians, insects and plants are just as unique.”

We arrived in Antananarivo, (“Tana”) Madagascar on Air France from Paris at 11:35 p.m. on November 17, 2019.  (We had traveled from Iowa to Paris the day before and stayed overnight near the Charles De Gaulle airport.)  We were joined at the Tana airport by our Tropical Birding guide, Emma, and a driver.  It was very late but after a short, bumpy and dark drive, we were received at our Hotel, Au Bois Vert, and comfortably accommodated for what remained of the night.

November 18:  After a late breakfast we birded around the pleasant garden and grounds of the Hotel Bois Vert.  The Red Fodies were plentiful, along with 8 other common Madagascar city dwelling birds, most endemic to Madagascar.

The find of the morning, however, was a handsome specimen of Oustalet’s Chameleon, just a few feet from our front doors.

The afternoon was occupied by a short trip to Lake Alarobia in the heart of Tana’s industrial area.  This Lake is home to the endemic and threatened Meller’s Duck (2 shown below with a White-faced Whistling Duck).

A Madagascar Pond Heron with its bright blue bill was displaying across the water.

This Malagasy Kingfisher was lovely in its dark blue coat.  (photo by Dave)

Our second night at Bois Vert included a delicious dinner and a restful sleep (except for the music emanating late into the morning from a nearby Saturday night revelry) after which we flew to Tulear in southwest Madagascar, for a few days of birding and lemuring in or near the Spiny Forest.

Here with the expert help of Fosa and his crew, we encountered my first species of a new bird family in Madagascar, a Long-tailed Ground-Roller.

Other notable finds were Madagascar Turtle-Doves, Namaqua Doves, Madagascar Coucals, Madagascar Cuckoo, Madagascar Nightjar, some shorebirds, Madagascar Sparrowhawk, Madagascar Hoopoe, and my second new family member (from the Malagasy Warbler Family), a Thamnornis.  Also, Madagascar Bulbuls, Magpie-Robins, and Wagtails.  The colonial nesting Sakalava Weavers were actively engaged in nesting at the entrance to Fosa’s private reserve.

And our first Vanga, this Chabert Vanga at the top of an Octopus Tree.

On our night walk, here we also found our first lemurs:  a Gray-brown Mouse Lemur from the numerous Mouse Lemur Family:

One of the highlights of our night walk was this cute, but prickly, Lesser Hedgehog Tenrec:

We also found this Torotoroka Scops-Owl.

No report of a visit to the Spiny Forest would be complete without mention and pictures of the famous Baobab Trees and Octopus Trees.

The town of Tulear  was an attraction in and of itself, partly because of the numerous rickshaws crowding the already pedestrian crowded streets, and the local folks who use them for transportation when walking becomes too tiring.  Fortunately, the terrain of the city is very flat.  The rickshaws vastly outnumbered other modes of transportation and we were told that many of the young men operators were from the southernmost area of Madagascar and that they come to Tulear in the tourist season to make a little money before returning to their homes.  (photo by Dave)

Part 2 of my Blog will report more of our tour of Ifaty, as well as La Table and our boat trip to Nosy Ve (November 20, 21 and 22).

 

From March 2 through March 9, 2019 I participated in the Wings Birding Tour of The Dominican Republic.  The Dominican Republic occupies the eastern half of the Greater Antilles island of Hispaniola, and Haiti occupies the western half of Hispaniola.  The Dominican Republic achieved independence from Haiti in 1844.  Each country has about 10,000,000 inhabitants.  At the end of the Dominican Republic tour, I flew the short distance east to Puerto Rico for a couple more days of birding.

The tour leader in the Dominican Republic was Evan Obercian (from Maine) and the local guide was Miguel Landestoy.  I was one of 8 participants.  The others were 2 women from Australia, and 5 men, respectively from Ontario, Oregon, California, Utah and Kansas.  Our guides were excellent.  In the Dominican Republic they dealt cooly with bad roads, unreliable suppliers of vehicles, and a breakdown of one of our 4-wheel drive vehicles in a remote mountain preserve.   But we did not miss a beat notwithstanding our temporary setbacks.  In Puerto Rico my guide, Julio Salgado, introduced me and his one other customer, John, to fish tacos for more of which I want to go back. The devastation caused by Hurricane Maria was not terribly apparent, but Julio and his family went without electricity for 7 months, ultimately buying a generator to end the nightmare.  One practical result for me was that the loss of many, perhaps most, of the rare Puerto Rican Parrots has resulted in closing the preserves where they could formerly be seen.  I hope they can recover.

In the past couple of years my main objective in birding has been to see at least one species of as many of the 250 bird families as is practical for me.  Prior to the Dominican Republic trip I had seen at least one species in 212 of the 250 families.  My goal was to add 5 families in the Dominican Republic, which I did.  Three of those families exist only on Hispaniola: Palmchats, Hispaniolan Tanagers, and Chat-Tanagers; the other 2 families, found there and elsewhere in the Caribbean, are the Todies and Spindalises.

After leaving The Dominican Republic I birded in Puerto Rico with Julio and there I found my 6^th new family for the trip, Puerto Rican Tanager, as well as another Spindalis (Puerto Rican Spindalis), and another Tody (Puerto Rican Tody).    Todies are beautifully colored, tiny birds, found only in the Caribbean area, with 2 species in The Dominican Republic where I saw several of each of its 2 species, and added a third in Puerto Rico.

The Palmchat is the only species in its family, quite plain, and found only on Hispaniola, where they are numerous and easily viewed.

Palmchats and Todies have been families for years.  The other 4 families I sought were recently created, by splitting them, primarily out of the large Tanager family, and assigning them, based on newly available DNA analysis, to much smaller family groups:  (1) Spindalis with 4 species in the Caribbean, 1 of them being on Hispaniola and 1 in Puerto Rico (both of which I saw); (2) Hispaniolan Tanagers with 4 species (2 from the Tanager family and 2 from the Warbler family), all found only on Hispaniola,  with 1 mostly in Haiti, which I did not see ; (3) Chat-Tanagers with 2 species only on Hispaniola (I saw the Western species only); and (4) Puerto Rican Tanager, 1 specie, found only in Puerto Rico.  The net result of my birding in The Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico was the addition of 6 families to my life list, increasing the total from 212 to 218.  Only Madagascar holds more potential new families for me (7), so this was an unmitigated success.  Madagascar lies ahead.

At the species level I was able to add 44 new species in The Dominican Republic and 16 in Puerto Rico, to bring my World Life List to 3,704 species.  Only about 7,000 more to go.  But at the family level, I may get to the 90% level if all goes well in Madagascar.

I apologize for the absence of pictures with this blog.  My faithful photographer, Barbara, did not accompany me on this trip, and the leaders in both areas were not photographers, so you have to go to the internet to see any of the birds mentioned.

In 2015 Barbara and I went to Brazil to visit old friends in Brasilia followed by a Field Guides sponsored birding trip to Garden of the Amazon north of Cuiaba, and to the Pantanal, south of Cuiaba, both in the state of Mato Grosso.  My report on that trip can be found in this Blog, in 2 segments, published in September and October, 2015.

In August, 2018 I went back to Brazil for a shorter birding outing with Rockjumper Bird Tours at the famous Cristalino Lodge, in the southern part of the Amazon Rain Forest, in and very close to the northern border of the state of Mato Grosso.  My primary target bird for this trip was the Dark-winged Trumpeter, one of three species in the Trumpeter (Psophiadae) family, a family I had never seen and which can be found only in the Amazonia area of South America.

At Cristalino I joined a group of 6 other birders who had participated in 2 earlier segments of this Rockjumper trip, one to the Pantanal and one to Iguaszu Falls.  They welcomed me warmly to their group and the week with them and with our Rockjumper leader, Rob Williams, could not have been more enjoyable. [Side note:  the bartender at Cristalino makes a good Tanqueray and Tonic].

Cristalino Lodge is located on the banks of the dark water, Cristalino River.  I was surprised at the paucity of bothersome insects, such as mosquitoes, chiggers, ticks, flies, etc.  I had come prepared with malaria pills, treated long shirts and pants, and plenty of insecticide, but I am pretty sure none of it would have been necessary, at least at this time of year, just before the wet season sets in.  I was told that mosquitoes, in particular, do not habituate well to dark water rivers because of the tannins contained in them.  True or not, their absence was a welcome surprise.  Also surprising was the nonchalance of the swimmers (most of the tour participants) who cooled off in the river every day.  I did not, maybe because I could not quite get past the thought of the possibility that the Caiman (siblings to the alligators, but just a cousin to the crocodiles) that we had seen along the river bank not far away, might wander into the swimming area.

The Lodge is very nice, the accommodations spacious and clean, the fans keep them comfortably cool, and the food, served buffet style at the central lodge, was exceptional.  A crew of hired guides works for the Lodge and I was pleased at the efforts Rob made to connect me with one of them for one day of dedicated, though unsuccessful, search for the Trumpeter, while the others took a trip down river on the boat.  In the category of small world, my lodge supplied guide is a native of Burlington, Iowa.

At Cristalino one can, and we did, walk the jungle trails, climb to the tops of canopy towers, hike to a secret “garden” and a rocky outcrop, sit quietly by a hide as the day darkened, and, my favorite, sit back in a comfortable boat for a birding trip on the dark water river.

It was in the evening while sitting quietly by a hide as birds came to bathe in the tiny water hole, that this Giant Anteater walked close to us, apparently oblivious of its human observers.

And it was during the course of our daily river trips that we saw Lowland Tapirs 

And on our final trip leaving Cristalino, a trio of Giant Otters, fishing casually along the shore and then launching themselves onto a fallen tree trunk over the water, to digest and warm up in the sun.

But wait a minute, wasn’t this supposed to be a birding trip?  Yes, indeed, and the birds were plentiful, but in the Amazon the animal life is spectacular also.  In addition to the mammals pictured above, during the course of the week we saw or heard Tufted Capuchin monkeys, Red-handed Howler Monkeys, White-cheeked Spider Monkeys,

Capybaras, Spotted Pacas, Azara’s Agoutis, Brazilian Porcupine, Proboscis Bats, Greater Sac-winged Bats, Fishing Bats (Greater Bulldogs), Geoffroy’s Side-necked Turtles, Spectacled, Dwarf (Curvier’s) and Black Caiman, Running Lizards and a Tree Boa.

So now to the birds:  We had 5 full days of birding with no Trumpeter.  On the last day we had a very short morning available for a concentrated effort by all to find some Trumpeters.  With time running out on my effort to add this family to my life list, Rob suddenly asked for complete silence as he cupped his ear to the distant sound of—what–?  Trumpeters in the jungle undergrowth.  The first sign we had had all week.  With luck he might call them near the trail.  And luck we had.  Soon, one, two, three, four, five Trumpeters showed up on the trail (behind us), and put on a 3-4 minute show for us all.

Alisdair Hunter of Ottawa captured the moment.  With his permission, I include here his photographs of our Dark-winged Trumpeters.

You can also Google “Dark-winged Trumpeter” at Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology, “Multimedia/Neotropical Birds on Line” where you can see many images of this most interesting bird, and also hear the unusual calls and moans of these noisy characters, made as they cover great swaths of territory in the jungle undergrowth.

So with the Trumpeter family added to my list, I now have 215 of the current Clement’s List of 250 Avian families.  More families are being created every year due to DNA sequencing and the resulting reclassification that is in process.  When the Clements World List was last published as a hard bound volume in 2007, which was about when I started keeping track of families, there were 203 of them.  From 203 families in 2007 to 250 in 2018 is a rapid expansion.  As for my species count, at Cristalino it increased by a modest 54 to a total of 3,708.

Following are some of the more interesting birds we saw at or near Cristalino. All of the following photos are by Alasdair Hunter, one of the participants in the tour, and are included here with his permission:

Curl-crested Aracari

 

Bare-faced Currassow (female)

Red-throated Piping Guan

Ornate Hawk-eagle

 Agami Heron

 Hoatzin

 Blue and Yellow Macaws

 Point-tailed Palmcreeper

 Crimson-bellied Parakeets

]

 Sunbittern

 Blue-necked Tanager

 White-throated Toucan

 Capuchin Monkey

My next international trip will be to the Dominican Republic in March, 2019.  Within this relatively small country it is possible for me to add 5 families, a personal gold mine, as the number of new families available to me, especially in the western hemisphere, dwindle.  The 5 new (to me) Dominican Republic families are:  Tody (2 species, Broad-billed and Narrow-billed Tody),  Palmchat (Dulus Dominicus), Hispaniolan Spindalis, Black-crowned Palm-Tanager, and Chat-Tanager (2 species, Eastern and Western). Assuming 100% success, which seems likely based on prior tour reports, that will leave only 4 families unseen (by me) in the western hemisphere: Sapayoa, missed due to safety concerns in my recent trip to Ecuador; Sharpbill, reliable only in southeast Brazil, Cuban Warblers, (2 species), and Puerto Rican Tanager.  Whether or not I will try for any of them remains to be determined.